It is now official as to who will serve on City Council, and it is a much younger council. Marshall Stair at 39 continues as the youngest member and Finbarr Saunders is still the oldest at 73. Saunders is widely expected to be picked the next vice mayor, replacing Duane Grieve, who leaves office Dec. 16.

The five new members are a combined 113 years younger than the five they replace. Stephanie Welch, 44, is 19 years younger than Nick Pavlis, 63, whom she replaces. Andrew Roberto at 41 is 30 years younger than Grieve, 71. Seema Singh Perez, 50, is 21 years younger than Brenda Palmer, 71. Lauren Rider, 43, is 26 years younger than Nick Della Volpe, 69. Gwen McKenzie, 55, who is the oldest of the new members, is 17 years younger than Daniel Brown, 72. Pavlis is the youngest of the five members retiring in 17 days, at 63.

Mayor Madeline Rogero is scheduled to be away from the final City Council meeting for the five departing members on Dec. 5. She will not preside or be present to make comments on the eight years that each of the five has served. In large part they backed her proposals.

This is not going over well with the five departees. While they may receive a plaque from Will Johnson, the city recorder, it would seem appropriate for the mayor to be there to say goodbye in an official capacity to these five who overwhelmingly backed her for six years, including her sizable property tax hike.

In fact, it was then-Vice Mayor Pavlis who sponsored the pay raise for the city mayor to increase the salary to $140,000 a year from $110,000. It takes effect this Dec. 16. Not only will Rogero personally benefit from it for two years, but her pension starting in 2019 when she leaves office will be based on the higher figure. It will be worth an additional $3,000 a year to Rogero for the rest of her life. She will be 67 in 2019.

Rogero spent over $20 million in tax dollars redoing Cumberland for two years and it is now finished, with mixed reviews despite a gala ribbon cutting. The Krystal in front of the Hilton Garden Inn closed some six months ago and has not reopened. Plywood covers the windows. Copper Cellar barely survived because Mike Chase had other restaurants that made money while the Copper Cellar lost. Full recovery has not occurred.

While the project may be complete as far as the city is concerned, there are still missing street signs. If you are driving east or west on Cumberland, you will not find a street sign from your vehicle for 20th or 21st Streets going north into Fort Sanders or 20th Street going south into the UT campus.

Not even a hospital sign there. While folks like me know where the streets are without a sign, out-of-town visitors or new residents and students learning their way around will be clueless on how to reach a destination on those two streets from Cumberland without signs. Hard to understand why these signs are missing.

GOP U.S. Senate candidate and former congressman Steve Fincher will have a fundraiser in Knoxville on Dec. 12 at the Sequoyah Hills home of Tim Williams.

City Councilman and potential mayoral candidate in 2019 George Wallace is 59 on Nov. 29. Wallace will be the second-oldest member of the new city council. Knox County DA Charme Allen is 53 on Dec. 1.

Former Knox county election commissioner Tammy Kaousias is 42 on Dec. 1 as well, and WBIR-TV news anchor John Becker is 46 on Dec. 2. UT vice chair Raja Jubran is 60 on Dec. 3 and former city council candidate and potential 2019 candidate for council at large Brandon Bruce is 39 the same day.

Architect Doug McCarty is 68 on Dec. 3, and former Knox County mayor Tommy Schumpert is 79 on Dec. 5.